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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, January 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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Same old
ambitions, same old problems! Crisis
time for Brazilian football Teeing off |
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Same old ambitions, same old problems! THE ongoing Sahara Millennium Soccer Tournament is turning out to be a big joke. Almost everyone appears to have pulled a fast one on the All-India Football Federation
(AIFF). The President of the AAFI, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, promised a world class treat with some of the big names of the game turning out for their countries. With rare exceptions the participating teams have brought very few stars with them. The reasons are obvious. The Sahara Millennium Cup in India has few takers among the football celebrities of the world. Perhaps it is India which puts them off or it is the money which they find insufficient. Or perhaps it is both these factors plus the country’s reputation for poor organisation. By the time this comment appears in print the tournament will be on its home stretch and it will be a wonder if there is any improvement either in the organisational problems or in the number of spectators turning up for the matches. As seen on television and backed up by reports from on the spot sports journalists the tournament is being played to empty stadiums, not only in the ‘‘soccer capital’’ of India, Kolkata but also in Kochi and Margao (Goa). Empty stadiums mean only one thing. The public has not been fooled by the so-called ‘‘greatest show in Asia’’ label. Obviously something went seriously wrong from the time the AIFF mooted for this great show. Either there has been a big communication gap between them and the countries which have sent the teams or the participating countries have deliberately chosen to field young and experimental sides. The latter theory appears to be more acceptable and if that is true than a big hoax has been played on the football fans of the country. The All-India Football Federation should take up the matter with the respective federations of the participating countries and demand some sort of compensation. At the same time the AIFF should explain why Indonesia which brought foreign players against all norms, has complained that the hosts knew about the composition of their teams and had accepted their entry. The relevant papers must be made public. The Sahara Millennium Cup is a farce. So what? It is not the first time that a major international meet in any game has run into trouble. Notwithstanding the success of the Asian Games, India does not appear to satisfy the stringent demands of most countries when it comes to organising a major international meet. So many things are taken for granted that quite often some very basic requirements are forgotten or paid very little attention to. This is a point worth making since India is forever eager to organise internationals, even having the gall to think of holding an Olympic Games or a World Cup football tournament and actually wanting to host a Grand Prix Athletics Meet. What we are good at is the ceremonial aspect, the inaugural extravaganza and the closing drama. Not much attention appears to be paid to the actual technical aspects of the conduct of the competitions in some of the disciplines. Take for example the World Table Tennis Championships held in Delhi some years ago. Outwardly everything looked well done but just ask the media men and some of the officials, Indians included. The food dished out was bad and the place where it had to be eaten was dirty. The Table Tennis Federation of India which has often been held as an example of good organisation thanks to that efficient man,
T.D. Rangaramanuam, just did not bother to pay much attention to these small things such as providing clean food and clean eating places. The Indira Gandhi Hockey at Lucknow had to be shifted merely because the organisers did not have the wherewithal that went with good organisation. And worse was the fate of the mediamen covering the event. The wife of one of the foreign correspondents rang up inquiring what happened to her husband and whether he was ill or something. The reason? His reports had not landed even one day for the last week. On one occasion the organisers prided themselves in having provided the newest of telex machines. What they overlooked was that the machines had to also deliver the goods, that is work. The new machines joke was also played on the mediamen when Lucknow hosted the Pakistan-Sri Lanka
one-dayer in the late 80s. It was a great match with Pakistan pulling back to win in a thrilling finish after Arvinda De Silva threatened to take Sri Lanka to a victory off his own bat. The machines at the media centre just did not function. The SAF Games held in Chennai for instance was one big mess for the first three days as far as the journalists were concerned. The typewriters in the main media centre belonged to an era before independence. So much money had been spent in organising the games but no thought was given to the most important aspect, the need for a proper media centre with all the relevant facilities. One remembers here the problem Pakistan Radio had setting up a connection for a running commentary on the hockey tournament. Luckily the matter was resolved after a lot of string pulling was done thanks mainly to the good relations between the commentators from Pakistan and the Indian journalists. Indians are very boastful of their hospitality. That’s very nice of them. But a little thought in discipline and a bit more effort in the actual conduct of the meet, the facilities for the media and proper transport arrangement and other allied amenities will go a long way in making India a better country as host. Good intentions and ambitions are all alright in their place but India must learn to deliver. We are as yet not able to host domestic tournaments efficiently. Why should we then risk our reputation and host major international meets? Frankly the Sahara Millennium Cup was a too good to believe. It was a dream which has gone sour. Later this year the country is playing host to the inaugural Afro-Asian Games. One sincerely hopes that a little less emphasis is placed on the ceremonial aspects and more on the actual conduct of the meet and the facilities for the visiting sports personalities. Maybe it is asking for a bit too much but why not also give a little more importance to the efficient conduct of domestic competitions? It is high time Indian sportspersons were treated as well at home as they are when they take part in the Asian Games and the Olympics. |
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Crisis time for Brazilian football When Ronaldo, the footballer hailed as one of the greatest players in the world, appeared in the Brazilian Congress last week to be interrogated about why the national team lost the 1998 World Cup final, the spectacle quickly descended into farce. “We lost,” he told the hushed audience, “because we didn’t win.” Yet the star’s testimony on what happened to the team in Paris two and a half years ago had a significance that belied his banal replies. Ronaldo’s testimony was part of an unprecedented attempt by Brazil’s politicians to call football to account after two years of scandals that have plunged the game into the worst crisis in its history. While the flamboyant soccer skills of players like Pele and Romario are a great advertisement for the romance of Brazil, the organisation of the game has always characterised the most corrupt and secretive parts of Brazilian society. A rising tide of allegations involving illicit enrichment, tax evasion, bribery — even that cocaine has been smuggled in footballs — has left faith in the game at its lowest ever ebb. Football is the strongest symbol of Brazilian national pride, and the health of the game is reflected in the country’s self-esteem. Domestic competitions are farcically run, stadiums are almost empty and the best players play in Europe and Japan. Even the Brazilian national team — once seen as a byword for footballing perfection — has been playing its worst football in decades. It has suffered recent embarrassing defeats to Paraguay and Chile and elimination from the Sydney Olympics by a nine-man Cameroon. Congress hopes to put football’s book in order and restore faith in the beautiful game. The task cannot be underestimated. It is a serious test of Brazil’s 16-year-old democracy to modernise itself. “If there is an area of public life that retains the authoritarianism of the dictatorship, it is football. There is a complete absence of laws,” says campaigning sports broadcaster Juca Kfouri. Since football is so deeply entrenched in Brazilian life, public confidence in the political system is at stake if the attempt fails. Congress has installed two football inquiries — one in the Chamber of Deputies and the other in the Senate. Dozens of players, coaches, journalists, agents and administrators are being summoned to Brasilia to be questioned. The inquiries have stronger powers of investigation than the police and already have asked for the personal bank records of the presidents of the 20 biggest clubs. Some of the hearings verge on farce. Congressmen interrogating Ronaldo appeared unable to ask probing questions and instead behaved as if it was a World Cup final post-match press conference - two and a half years after the event. Ronaldo was called to shed light on the role the US sportswear manufacturer Nike is alleged to have played within the Brazil squad. Ever since Nike signed a $ 150 million contract with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in 1996 it has been eyed with suspicion. After the defeat against France it became the scapegoat. Brazilians feel that under the normal course of events they would have won, so the defeat must have been someone else’s fault. The contract is widely seen as a betrayal of national sovereignty. Not only does it require the team to use Nike kit but it gives Nike the power to organise friendly games with at least eight first team regulars. “The deal was very good for Nike but very bad for Brazil,” says Congressman Aldo Rebelo, president of the inquiry. “The CBF sold the team. They betrayed the nation. They may not have had that intention, but that’s what they did.” Nike denies exerting undue influence over the team. Rebelo, a Communist deputy who campaigns to rid Portuguese of English words, believes the psychological pressure of the Nike contract contributed to the convulsions — which some believe were an epileptic fit — Ronaldo is believed to have suffered on the day of the final. He was taken for tests, given the all-clear and played in the match - but only as a shade of his former self. The real target of the Nike hearing is CBF president Ricardo Teixeira — a national symbol of nepotism and impunity. There is great suspicion over how he accumulated his vast wealth, and he is such a despised figure he rarely attends football matches any more for fear of chants from the terraces. Teixeira had no involvement in sport until he was handpicked to run the CBF in the late eighties by his then father-in-law, former Fifa president Joao Havelange — another vastly unpopular man. The inquiries can also be seen as a reaction to the economic liberalisation that has happened since the end of the Brazilian dictatorship in 1985 — a freedom that allowed the CBF to make mega-deals with multinationals. Rather than confining its business to Nike, however, Congressmen have widened the inquiry to a more general exploration of how Brazilian football has sold its soul. The investigations — which have another year to run — have thrown light on the “trafficking” of underage players to foreign countries, the connivance of diplomatic officials in forging players’ passports and the vast personal fortunes club presidents are alleged to have made illegally from selling players. Brazil exports more footballers abroad than any other country — currently about 10,000. In the Senate, the hearings started with the colourful testimony of Renata Alves, the former secretary and lover of Brazil’s ex-coach Wanderley Luxemburgo. Alves said there was a house in Rio called the “embassy” where club coaches and presidents would take suitcases of money for illegal deals. She also turned Luxemburgo into a Brazilian David Mellor, saying he liked her to wear the club Palmeiras’s green socks up to her knees when they had sex. Luxemburgo is accused of selecting substandard players for the national team and earning kickbacks on their raised value. He admitted not declaring $ 4.5million from tax returns, saying it was a result of disorganisation rather than intent. The inquiries are the first time football administrators have been called to book by Congress. There is an element of politicians turning their sword on themselves, since the investigations are an unprecedented attack on the promiscuity of football and political power. Running a football club has long been a route into politics, since it gives you a high public profile and fan loyalty. Before Fernando Collor de Mello was elected Brazilian President in 1989 he had established himself at the helm of the north-eastern club CSA. His son, 24-year-old Arnon de Mello, is now club President, the first step in his political career. The cosy relationship between football and politics is personified by Eurico Miranda, president-elect of Rio club Vasco da Gama. He was voted to Congress six years ago on a manifesto of defending his club’s interests. Vasco fans re-elected him in 1998 with more than 100,000 votes, the seventh highest in Rio state. He is not the only one. The presidents of first division clubs Cruzeiro, Sport and Santa Cruz are also elected Congressmen, as are many state federation directors and presidents of smaller clubs. David Fleischer, professor of politics at Brasilia university, says: “Miranda is flamboyant and a caricature, but he is not the only Congressman representing a corporate interest. Brazilian politics involves interest representation. People say not just that “I represent an interest’’ but “I am the interest’’. Congress’s football politicians form a powerful lobby that has blocked almost all attempts to modernise football legislation — most famously defeating Pele’s attempts to make club administration more transparent when he was Sports Minister from 1995-98. The football lobby managed to stop an inquiry for 18 months, until the Olympic defeat made it politically impossible. When the hearings started last October the football lobby rushed to fill them with its members hoping to neutralise their effects. One of Rebelo’s main worries is that the lower house’s inquiry has been greatly weakened since football-linked deputies now make up about half of its members. As if reflecting the malaise over the game, the 2000 National Football Championship almost ended in tragedy a fortnight ago when the fencing at Vasco da Gama’s stadium caved in and more than 150 people were taken to hospital. The incident shocked even people already disillusioned with the game. Miranda charged on to the pitch and demonstrated a predictable insensitivity as he tried to have the injured removed as quickly as possible to restart the match. When the Rio State Governor, watching at home, called the club to overrule the restart on grounds of security, Miranda on live television called the governor incompetent, weak and a poof. For the public and press, Miranda’s demagogic actions highlighted the need for reform. The poet Geraldo Carneiro said: “Miranda represents a world that hasn’t passed yet, a psychological feudalism that, wherever it goes, rules, and that we as Brazilians need to free ourselves from.”
— By arrangement with the Guardian
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Teeing off MORE golfing reputations were made than marred during the first year of the millennium. Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaurav Ghei and several other caddy-turned professionals showed that they were coming of age to shine in the international circuit. In relation to men professionals, the progress of amateur men and women players was far from encouraging. Except for young Irina Brar, other players flattered to deceive throughout the year. They seemed to lack in big match temperament. Which is the key to success in golf, as a competitor is engaged in playing against himself. Randhawa and Atwal showed that they were not only ‘tigers’ on home courses but they were proficient even when playing abroad. Randhawa bagged the Singapore Open in a tough competition, while Atwal outplayed a galaxy of opponents in the Star Allialnce Open. Their achievements did India proud. They were among the top players on the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit. What was cause for happiness for Randhawa was that he also qualified for the British Open. He was the second Indian to claim this distinction. The first was Gaurav Ghei in 1997. Randhawa did not tighten his game at St Andrews, the home of golf. Had he played freely, he might have made the cut. That would have provided him greater happiness than his qualifying in the competition. Among caddy-turned professionals Vijay Kumar continued to dominate the Wills Golf Tour. But Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) was more consistent in his doings. This helped him bag the Mahindra Player of the year award for the season. It was a touch and go between Mukesh and Feroz Ali (Calcutta) for the Mahindra award and Rs 7 lakh prize money. Mukesh prevailed upon his adversary by a small margin of half point. During the season, Gaurav Ghei played well but not as well as he should have. He is a player who should be able to perform much better on the Asian PGA Tour. He is a calm and calculative golfer who should be in the same league as Randhawa and Atwal, if not better. Amandeep Johl showed a marked improvement during the season. He showed his skill in no uncertain measure in the Singapore Open. He tied for the third place. This was at the fag end of the season. Surely, he will begin the new season on much brighter note than 2000. Shiv Prakash (Kanpur), Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow), and host of youngsters showed promise and potential. Rohtas Singh showed that he continued to be ever-green. His performance was more than satisfactory. That is what renders Tiger Woods a super-star among world renowned golfers of much greater experience and skill than him. It is the kind of mental conditioning that renders him extra-ordinary. He is a player, who plays to win. He annihilates his opponents with amazing shots and cool temperament. “Hit them hard” was the lesson given to C.K. Nayudu by his father when he went for the match. “Kill them” was the lesson given by Kultida Woods to her young son Tiger when he went out for the competition. “It was oddly predatory counsel coming from a Thai-born mother who at other times imparted Buddhist wisdom about inner peace”, says Jay Tolson. This kind of temperament has to be developed by Indian golfers, particularly by Chiranjeev Milkha Singh who has in him to outdo the deeds of his legendary father
Milkha. |
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Windies’ reputation touches lowest ebb With the record 15th win in a row, the Australian cricket team proved their supremacy in Test matches. The 5-0 drubbing of West Indies is also unprecedented in the annals of cricket. They stood no match to the mighty Australians who were superior in every department of the game. With this humiliating loss the reputation of West Indies team has touched its lowest ebb. In the days of Sobers, Vivian Richards, Malcolm Marshall, Holding, Greenidge and Clive Lloyd, the team was the most fearsome and was considered invincible. Their pace attack was so fiery that all world class teams hesitated in facing them. Many records stand against their names. At present Lara Adams and Walsh have failed to keep the flag of West Indies flying high. KARNAIL SINGH Kudos to Anand Congratulations to Vishwanathan Anand on becoming India’s first chess world champion. Grandmaster Anand trounced Spain’s Alexei Shirov by 3.5 points to 0.5 to clinch the six-game final and with that the FIDE world chess crown. After drawing the first game, Anand played ruthlessly in the next three games which he won successively. His domination over his rival was complete. With clinical precision he stifled his opponent who was left huffing and puffing. In the game which decided the winner, Shirov made a desperate bid to remain in contention. Throwing caution to the winds, he started playing in an adventurous and reckless manner but Anand stuck to his gameplan. Having fought like a cornered animal, Shirov had to surrender ultimately. TARSEM S. BUMRAH Cedric D’Souza The appointment of Cedric D’Souza as coach of the Indian hockey team is very strange. he was the coach of Indian hockey team during Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and was mainly responsible for India’s poor performance. PRITPAL SINGH |
